Palay and Corn production in La Union increases in 2020

La Union’s palay production increased by 3.96 percent in 2020 at 176,117 metric tons compared with its production in 2019 at 169,409 metric tons.

Similarly, the area harvested for palay in the province went up by 1.32 percent from 38,363 hectares in 2019 to 38,869 hectares in 2020. From 2019 to 2020, the yield per hectare grew from 4.41 metric tons to 4.53 metric tons. 

Overall, Ilocos Region’s palay production increased by 2.78 percent from 1,851,265.37 metric tons in 2019 to 1,902,661.85 metric tons in 2020.

Among the four provinces of Ilocos Region, La Union recorded the least volume of production in 2020 with 9.26 percent of the total palay production in the region.   Pangasinan accounted for the biggest proportion with 59.67 percent share followed by Ilocos Norte with 17.97 percent and and Ilocos Sur with 13.10 percent.

In terms of total area harvested for palay in Ilocos Region, the area increased by 0.14 percent from 407,139.34 hectares in 2019 to 407,701 hectares in 2020.  

La Union had the smallest proportion of the total harvested area for palay in Ilocos Region in 2020 with 9.53 percent share.  Pangasinan had the largest proportion of the the total area harvested for palay with 61.70 percent share, followed by Ilocos Norte with 16.24 percent share and Ilocos Sur with 12.53 percent share.

By ecosystem, the volume of palay produced from irrigated farms (114,818 metric tons) in La Union in 2020 was higher than the volume of production from rainfed farms (61,299 metric tons). This posted an increase of 6.66 percent in the volume of palay production from irrigated farms in 2019 and a decrease of 0.18 percent in the volume of palay production from rainfed farms in 2019.

Likewise, irrigated farms had greater area harvested for palay (24,613 hectares) than rainfed farms (14,256 hectares) in 2020.  This posted an increase of 2.22 percent in the area harvested for palay from irrigated farms in 2019 and a decrease 0.20 percent in the area harvested for palay from rainfed farms in 2019.

The yield per hectare in irrigated farms improved from 4.47 metric tons in 2019 to 4.66 metric tons in 2020 while the yield per hectare in rainfed farms remained at 4.30 metric tons.  

Corn production in La Union was posted at 39,613 metric tons in 2020.  This recorded a slight improvement of 0.07 percent from the 39,585 metric tons production in 2019.  Two types of corn (white corn and yellow corn) were grown in La Union in 2019 and 2020.  

The area harvested for corn also expanded by 0.61 percent from 7,220 hectares in 2019 to 7,264 metric tons in 2020. Meanwhile, the yield per hectare decreased from 5.48 metric tons per hectare in 2019 to 5.45 metric tons per hectare in 2020.

Ilocos Region’s volume of corn production went down by 1.99 percent from 574,852 metric tons in 2019 to 563,388 metric tons in 2020. 

La Union posted the least volume of production in 2020 with 7.03 percent of the total corn production in the region. Pangasinan accounted for the biggest proportion with 61.89 percent share followed by Ilocos Sur with 19.28 percent share and Ilocos Norte with 11.81 percent share.

The area harvested for corn for the entire region decreased by 1.55 percent from 96,663 hectares in 2019 to 95,166.96 hectares in 2020.

Among the four provinces, La Union had the least share to the total area harvested for corn in Ilocos Region with 7.63 percent.  Pangasinan occupied the biggest area harvested with corn with 60.01 percent share followed by Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte with 19.92 percent share and 12.44 percent share, respectively.

STATISTICAL TABLES

TECHNICAL NOTES

Palay and Corn Production Survey (PCPS) is a quarterly survey that generates estimates and forecasts data on production, area and yield of palay and corn. The survey gathers information on the area planted/harvested and production by ecosystem (palay) and crop type (corn); monthly distribution of production and area harvested; farm household disposition/utilization of production; area of standing crop; planting intention indicator; use of seeds, fertilizers and pesticides; and awareness and availment of program interventions.

Reference Periods

January Survey round – October to December

April Survey round – January to March

July Survey round – April to June

October Survey round – July to September

Production refers to the quantity produced and actually harvested for a particular crop during the reference period.

Area Harvested refers to the actual area from which harvest are realized during the reference period.

Irrigated Farms refer to area with irrigation facilities supplying water through artificial means like gravity, force/power, pump, etc.  Irrigated area become rainfed only, when the irrigation system is no longer operational for the past two years and beyond repair and there is no plan of irrigating the farm.           

Rainfed Farms refer to area that holds standing water but solely dependent on rainfall for its water supply. It may have dikes that retain rainwater. 

Yield refers to the measurement of the amount of agricultural production harvested per unit of land area.

SGD. DANITES E. TEÑIDO, Ph.D.
Chief Statistical Specialist